THE TEXAS RANGERS
The Texas Rangers, as an organization, dates from the spring of 1836.
When the Alamo had fallen before the onslaught of the Mexican troops
and the frightful massacre had occurred, General Sam Houston organized
among the Texan settlers in the territory a troop of 1600 mounted
riflemen. This company, formed for the defense of the Texan borders,
was the original Texas Ranger unit, and it is interesting to note
that the organization from its very inception to the present moment
has never swerved from that purpose--the protection of Texan borders,
whether such protection be against the Indian, the bandit or marauding
Mexicans from beyond the Rio Grande. This little troop of rangers won
everlasting laurels in its stand against Santa Anna at the battle of
San Jacinto.
When the Republic of Texas was organized in December, 1837, the new
state found herself with an enormous frontier to protect. To the south
was the hostile Mexico while to the west and northwest roved the Indian
and the bandit. To furnish protection against such enemies and to form
the nucleus of a national standing army the ranger troop was retained.
During the seven years that Texas had to maintain her own independence
before she was admitted into the American Union, her rangers repelled
hordes of Mexicans, fought the murderous Apaches, Comanches, and
Kiowas, and administered justice on a wholesale plan to a great number
of outlaws and ruffians that had flocked pell mell into the new
Republic from the less attractive parts of the United States.
So vital was the service rendered by the rangers in protecting the
lives and property of the settlers along the frontiers of the state
that Texas retained twelve hundred rangers as mounted police for
patrol of the Mexican border and as a safeguard against the savage
redskins of the southwest. When the Civil War broke out between the
North and the South, Texas was drawn into the conflict on the side
of the Confederacy. General Con Terry, an old ranger, organized the
famous body of men known as Terry's Texas Rangers. This command was
composed almost exclusively of ex-rangers and frontiersmen. From Bull
Run to Appomattox this ranger troop rendered gallant service, and lost
seventy-five per cent of its original muster roll. General Sherman, in
his memoirs, speaks admiringly of the bravery of the rangers at the
battle of Shiloh.
Return to peace and the days of reconstruction did not do away with
the necessity for the service that could only be rendered by the
ranger. Banditry, Indian uprisings and massacres, cattle thievery,
all flourished, for the bad man confidently expected the post-war
turmoil would protect him from punishment for his misdeeds. He was to
be undeceived, for the rangers effectively taught him that they were
in the state for the purpose of protecting lives and property, and
right royally did they perform that duty. From 1868 to 1873 the ranger
companies were gradually reduced from one thousand to about three
hundred men.
The Federal Government adopted a most unfortunate policy toward the
Indians after the war. The tribes were removed to reservations and
rationed as public charges. Unscrupulous dealers, in their desire for
gain, illegally sold firearms to the Indians, and whenever a redskin
massacred a frontiersman he was sure to capture good weapons, so that
they soon became well armed and very expert in handling their new
weapons. As no attempt was made to confine them to the reservation
limits, the redskins, under their native chiefs, were always sneaking
off and raiding West Texas. These marauders stole thousands of horses
and cattle, and did not hesitate to murder and scalp the defenseless
people along the frontier. Numbers of women and children were carried
off as captives, a very small proportion of which were subsequently
ransomed. Repeated complaints to Washington brought no redress. Indeed,
some of the government officials calmly declared that the Indians were
doing no harm--it was white men disguised as redskins that caused the
trouble!
In 1874 conditions along the frontier had become so acute that the
need for an organized mounted police for the protection of the
settlers against the continued Indian raids became apparent. As in
the past the state looked again to her rangers. Early in 1874, during
the administration of Governor Richard Coke, the first Democratic
governor since secession, the Legislature appropriated $300,000 for
frontier defense, thus authorizing the formation of the Texas Rangers
as now constituted. The governor immediately issued a call for four
hundred and fifty volunteers. These were formed into six companies of
seventy-five men each. Each of these units was officered by a captain
and a first and second lieutenant. The companies were designated A,
B, C, D, E, and F, and received the official name of the Frontier
Battalion of Texas Rangers. Major John B. Jones of Corsicana, Texas,
was commissioned major of the command. At this time the captains
received a salary of $100 per month, lieutenants $75, sergeants $50,
and corporals and privates $40. Subsequently, as the Legislature
continually sliced into the ranger appropriation, the pay of the
private was reduced to only $30 a month, a mere pittance for the
hazardous service demanded of them.
Early in 1874 the force took the field, and each company was assigned
a definite territory along the frontier. Company "A," being the
northernmost company, was camped on the main fork of the Brazos River;
Company "F," the southernmost, was stationed on the Nueces River. The
remaining four companies were posted along the line between the two
commands mentioned about one hundred and twenty-five miles apart, so
that the battalion of four hundred and fifty men was required to cover
a frontier of between five and six hundred miles.
Major Jones was a very able commander, and quickly won the confidence
of his men and of the people along the border he was sent to protect.
The frontiersmen cooperated with him in every way possible, sending
runners to the various ranger camps whenever an Indian trail was found
or a bunch of horses stolen. During the very first six months of its
existence nearly every company in the battalion had had an Indian
fight and some of them two or three. This command finally cleared
the Texas frontier of the redskins and then turned its attention to
the other pests of the state,--thieves, bandits, and fugitives from
justice. In this work the ranger rendered service second to none,
and became in an incredibly short time the most famous and the most
efficient body of mounted police in the world.
Between 1865 and 1883 the Texas Rangers followed one hundred and
twenty-eight Indian raiding parties, and fought the redskins in
eighty-four pitched battles. During this same period they recovered six
thousand stolen horses and cattle and rescued three citizens carried
off by Indians. In this period twelve rangers were killed. Despite this
record of service, the Legislature at Austin could not always be made
to see the advantages,--nay, the necessity,--for a ranger force, and it
was continually tinkering with the appropriations for the support of
the force. When the appropriation was small the command was reduced to
keep within the expenditure doled out by the parsimonious solons, and
recruited to full strength whenever the lawmakers could be prevailed
upon to increase the annual ranger budget.
By 1885 conditions had changed. Texas was no longer endangered by
Indians, for the rangers had done much to convert the red devils into
good Indians,--that is, into dead ones. Although the Indians had
utterly disappeared from the state, the activities of the rangers did
not cease. The white "bad man" who had stirred up the first Indian
troubles now began to plunder and murder his own race and indulge in
every form of lawlessness. From hunting the murderous redskins the
rangers became now stalkers of the man-killers and those who despoiled
their neighbors of their property. The local legal authorities could
not or would not handle this task themselves, so the rangers were
made peace officers and given the right of arrest without warrant in
any part of the state. They then became mounted constables to quell
disorder, prevent crime and bring criminals to justice and assist the
duly constituted authorities in every way possible. This new work was
less romantic than the old Indian warfare, but it was every bit as
dangerous and as necessary in the building up of the fast developing
state. As in every other task assigned him the ranger did his duty
fearlessly and well. Between 1889 and 1890 the rangers made five
hundred and seventy-nine arrests, among them seventy-six murderers.
With the coming of the railroads the rangers began to use them, as
they permitted speed and the covering of greater distances than were
possible on horseback. Moreover, commands could be dispatched from
one part of the state to another as occasion demanded. This greater
mobility led to larger usefulness and increasing number of arrests by
the ranger forces.
The outbreak of the Spanish-American War found the ranger ready and
anxious for service in the defense of the Union. Large numbers of them
were enlisted in the world famous Rough Riders.
"I have heard from the lips of reliable rangers," declared General
Miles, in speaking of the ranger service in Cuba, "tales of daring that
are incomparable. It is indeed too bad that the world knows so little
about those marvelous men. There have been hosts of men among the Texas
Rangers who were just as nervy as Davy Crockett, Travis, or Bowie at
the Alamo."
Thanks to her rangers, Texas is now one of the most law-abiding, most
orderly states in the Union. And, today, more than forty-six years
since the organization of the battalion, the state still maintains
a tiny force of rangers numbering sixty-three officers and men. In
1920-21, the battalion was composed of a headquarters company and
Companies A, C, D, E, and F. As in the beginning of its history, the
force is stationed along the frontier. The headquarters company, under
command of Captain J.P. Brooks, was stationed at Austin and used for
emergency calls. Company "A," stationed at Presidio, and commanded
by Captain Jerry Gray, patrols the border between El Paso, Presidio,
and Jeff Davis Counties and the back country southward. Company "E,"
Captain J.L. Anders, patrols the line of Presidio and Brewster Counties
to the line of Terrell and Val Verde Counties and eastward. Company
"F," under Captain W.W. Davis, was stationed at Del Rio and covered the
line from Terrell and Val Verde Counties down the river to the line
between Maverick, Dimmit and Webb Counties and the back country. Under
the command of Captain William Ryan, Company "C" was located at Laredo
and patrolled the line of Maverick, Dimmit and Webb Counties to the
line of Zapata and Starr Counties and the back country, while Company
"D," stationed at Brownsville, under Captain W.L. Wright, patrols from
the line of Zapata and Starr Counties down the Rio Grande to its mouth
and the adjacent back country.
Sketchy as has been this history, it will show a ranger record of
continuous duty throughout the forty-six years of its existence in
guarding the lives, the liberty and the property of Texas citizens. And
the ranger has been content to perform his duty unheralded and almost
unsung. Performance of duty, it matters not where it may lead him, into
whatever desperate situation or howsoever dangerous the thing demanded,
has always been the slogan of the organization. For courage, patriotic
devotion, instant obedience and efficiency, the record of the Texas
Ranger has been equalled by no body of constabulary ever mustered.
Though formed into military units and officered as a soldier, the
ranger is not a military man, for scant attention is paid to military
law and precedent. The state furnished food for the men, forage for
their horses, ammunition and medical attendance. The ranger himself
must furnish his horse, his accoutrements and his arms. There is, then,
no uniformity in the matter of dress, for each ranger is free to dress
as he pleases and in the garb experience has taught him most convenient
for utility and comfort. A ranger, as any other frontiersman or cowboy,
usually wears good heavy woolen clothes of any color that strikes
his fancy. Some are partial to corduroy suits, while others prefer
buckskin. A felt hat of any make and color completes his uniform.
While riding, a ranger always wore spurs and very high-heeled boots to
prevent his foot from slipping through the stirrup, for both the ranger
and the cowboy ride with the stirrup in the middle of the foot. This
is safer and less fatiguing on a long ride. For arms, the ranger after
1877 carried a Winchester rifle or carbine, a Colt's .45 revolver, and
a Bowie knife. Two cartridge belts, one for Winchester and one for
revolver ammunition, completed his equipment, and so armed he was ready
to mount and ride.
"We live in the saddle and the sky is our roof," say the old rangers,
and this is literally true. The rangers are perfect centaurs and almost
live in the saddle. They take horse where they will and may arrest or
search in any part of the state. There is very little of what a West
Point graduate would call drill. A ranger is expected simply to be a
good rider and a quick and accurate shot. Every one of them are skilled
horsemen and crack shots. No crack cavalryman in any army can mount
a horse more quickly or more expertly than a ranger, and he can keep
a constant stream of fire pouring from his carbine when his horse is
going at top speed and hit the mark nine times out of ten! Should a
ranger drop anything on the ground that he wants he does not even check
the speed of his horse, but, bending from the saddle as if he were made
of India rubber, he picks up the object in full gallop.
While not on active duty the rangers amuse themselves in various
ways. Some play cards, others hunt, while the studious spend their
time over books and good literature. Horse racing is popular, and the
fastest horse in the company is soon spotted, for the rangers match
their mounts one against the other. At night around their camp fires
the men are constantly telling stories of their own or some comrade's
adventures that put to shame all the inventions of the imaginative
fiction writers. But when on duty all this is changed. No pace is too
quick, no task too difficult or too hazardous for him. Night and day
will the ranger trail his prey, through rain and shine, until the
criminal is located and put behind the bars where he will not again
molest or disturb peaceful citizens. For bravery and endurance and
steadfast adherence to duty at all times the ranger is in a class all
to himself. Such was the old ranger, and such is the ranger of today.
Is it surprising, then, that I was early attracted to the force and
wished to join them in their open, joyous and adventurous life?
[Illustration: _D.W. Roberts_]